Their has been a level of syncretism between Mahayana (including Vajrayana) and Thervada Buddhism in Thailand for quite some time.

An example of that would be that Thai Buddhists revere the Boddhisattvas, a concept that does not exist in mainstream Theravada Buddhism. The Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara is particularly popular. This has most probably been introduced by Chinese merchants, but ancient Vajrayana practices are also present.

There is a study by the French School for Far Eastern studies (E.F.E.O.) which made a comparison of Buddhist practices from North through South Vietnam, but I cannot presently pull up the persee site to search it. The link was: http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/revue/befeo

Anyway, from what I remember, it traced syncretism down through the three Vietnams citing examples.

Li Tana, in "Nguyen Cochinchina", characterizes Central and South Vietnam as being Buddhist, versus the North being Confucian prior to Gia Long's reunification and ascent to the Nguyen throne. Gerald C. Hickey characterizes the 1960s and 70s South Vietnamese as being Taoists at their core. My own experience in Vietnam tends me to Hickey's view, at least as regards the older generation. The majority of younger in-law males tend to view religion as superstition, but the girls and women still pray to the ancestral spirits, the Buddhas, and the Goddess of Mercy.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot create polls in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum